26 August, 2015:  Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton or shortened to LV, is a French fashion house founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label’s LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes, watches, jewelery, accessories, sunglasses and books. Louis Vuitton is one of the world’s leading international fashion houses; it sells its products through standalone boutiques, lease departments in high-end department stores, and through the e-commerce section of its website. For six consecutive years (2006–2012), Louis Vuitton was named the world’s most valuable luxury brand.
- Louis Vuitton Malletier began his career as a trunk maker at age 16.
- The house ofLouis Vuitton was founded in 1854.
- Louis’s son George Vuittoncreated a new type of lock, the tumbler lock.
- The father and son were so sure of their lock thatthey challenged Harry Houdini to a public escape. Sadly, Houdini didn’t agree.
- The brand’s signature monogram canvasdebuted in 1896Â as a way to fight counterfeits.
- In 1914, the largest luggage store in the world wasopened by the brand on Champs-Élysées in Paris.
- Items are stillmade by hand in France.
- The famous monograminspired artist Salvador DalÃÂ to create the “DalÃgram.”
- More recently, the brand has teamed up withartists like Takashi Murakami and Stephen Sprouse.
- Sex and the Cityhelped instigate a craze for the designer and its knockoffs.
- Celebrities includingAngelina Jolie, Madonna, and David Bowie have posed for the brand, but the strangest campaign star may be Mikhail Gorbachev, the final president of the USSR
- The label is part of LVMH,a group comprising 70 retail houses including Christian Dior, Donna Karan.
- TheM and H in LVMH stand for Moët and Hennessy, two popular brands of alcohol.
- According toForbes, Louis Vuitton is considered the world’s 14th most valuable brand.
- As of 2013, the brand had been mentioned 19 times in songs by Kanye West.
- Marc Jacobs was the brand’s artistic director for 16 years, from 1997 to 2013.
- The head designer forLouis Vuitton is currently Nicolas Ghesquière, who took the helm in 2013.